Two Brave Warriors
by Castiloar
Summary: Mulan nodded again, and Merida could have sworn that there was a faint pink in her cheeks that hadn't been there before. "You are so fast and so careful when you draw your bow." She paused, her eyes alight. "Imagine if we got that speed behind a sword." Merida nodded quickly, a large grin forming on her face. "Show me?" She asked. "Of course."
1. Fight Like a Girl

Oh... It has been a while, hasn't it? I saw a gif set of the preview for 5x08/5x09 and these were the result. I have not seen the actual episodes as yet, so I unfortunately do not believe they have much bearing with the canon of them. Still, a bit of fun and fluff never hurt anyone, eh?

As always, many thanks to the lovely DVeleniet for betaing, and for catching that I decided to change tenses for no apparent reason in the second part...

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"Guuurrrrhh." Merida growled. She bit back a grimace as best she could, looking up at Mulan from her backside in the dust yet again. Mulan gave her a wan smile as some means of consolation, before offering her a hand.

Merida took it, feeling slightly deflated as she was pulled back on to her feet. She dropped Mulan's hand, shuffling so she was no longer facing her. Something akin to an excuse started falling from her lips in a current of mumbles, but what the words were, even Merida wasn't sure.

"Who taught you how to use a sword?" Mulan asked crisply as Merida brushed herself off.

"My father did!" Merida retorted curtly. She turned back to face Mulan. Her hands came to her hips as she felt a well of anger drawing up inside her. Had the other woman meant that as an insult? Was she implying that her father had done a poor job in teaching her?

Well, she'd _not_ stand for that.

Mulan showed no indication of being fazed by Merida's defensive response, asking calmly, "And if you had to fight King Fergus, what would be the first thing you thought about when you gauged him as an opponent?"

The question gave Merida a moment of pause. "I'd think: 'now there's a great bear of a man?'" She finally answered, though it came out as a question rather than an answer.

Mulan smiled, nodding her head. "Exactly. He's much larger than you are, correct?"

"Aye."

"His style of fighting works well for him because it suits his body. And he taught his way of fighting to you well." Mulan paused. "But you are a…'wee slip of a thing,'" she finished, attempting to mimic the burred accent of the Dun Broch clan.

Merida laughed, though she appreciated the effort. "So…what you mean is I need to try to fight in a way that suits my size? Being that I am a 'wee slip of a thing,' as you so aptly put," she teased.

Mulan nodded again, and Merida could have sworn that there was a faint pink in her cheeks that hadn't been there before. "You are so fast and so careful when you draw your bow." She paused, her eyes alight. "Imagine if we got that speed behind a sword."

Merida nodded quickly, a large grin forming on her face. "Show me?" She asked.

"Of course."


	2. Shooting Straight?

Mulan signaled for Merida to stop, and the sound of singing steel died off after one last note played between their two blades.

"That was excellent." Mulan praised.

Merida grinned, happy with the progress she had made so far, and yet...she felt something stir in her at the prospect of ending their day already. She was grateful for all Mulan had shown her and clearly they had reached a good stopping point. Maybe there was a way to show her gratitude for all her help and patience?

"How'd you like to give it a go with a longbow? Try something different?" Merida offered suddenly.

Mulan paused for a moment. "I've never used a longbow before," she admitted in a measured manner.

"Well that's the idea, silly! Broaden your horizons!"

Merida raced towards the archery butts, motioning for Mulan to come with her. Merida's enthusiasm left her unaware of the small chuckle Mulan failed to conceal as she moved to follow.

It only took moments for Merida to choose a sturdy bow from the rack, and bring it along with a handful of freshly fletched arrows towards the waiting Mulan. Merida thrust the arrows down into the ground with a practiced and effortless motion in front of Mulan, before offering her the bow.

With her ever ready "can do" outlook on life, Merida mistook Mulan's moment of calculation for nerves as the warrior gingerly inspected the bow.

"It's not gonna bite ye. I promise." She grinned. "Come 'er and let me show ye how."

Mulan started slightly as Merida slid right behind her, reaching around to take her arms. She fixed Mulan's grip so she had a firm hold on the bow, before beginning to guide an arrow on to the taut string. "Hold it gently, not too rough but not too softly, either." She instructed, aiming as best she could from her angle, and pulled Mulan's arm back into a draw.

 _Thwack!_

The shaft flew in a flash, striking the target's lower left edge.

"Not bad!" Merida hooted excitedly as she stepped back and clapped.

Mulan chuckled, and carefully nocked another arrow...

"There's no rush lassie-"

But Merida never got to finish as Mulan let off another shot, which flew straight and true.

 _Thwack!_

The second arrow found its rest a hair to the right of the bulls-eye, leaving Merida speechless.

Mulan took the chance to watch her dumbstruck archery instructor, immensely thrilled to have rendered the usually boisterous woman silent.

"How did ye do that?" She finally asked, hands gesturing to implore an answer.

Mulan smiled slightly sheepishly. "I said I had never used a longbow before, not that I had never used _any_ kind of bow before," she clarified in an almost impish tone.

Merida gave her a scolding glare, but could not hide the glint in her eye or the laugh that escaped her as the glare softened. She was thrilled to see a more playful side to Mulan come out, if a tad riled at being shown up.

Mulan waivered a bit under Merida's gaze, shifting her grip on the bow and turning her attention to it. "I have never tried to use a bow anywhere near this tall…" She continued on about the shorter composite bows she is used to from her homeland, but the words are lost on Merida.

 _You think that wee bit of wood is tall? Oh… Just you wait 'til you meet Angus…_ Merida thought gleefully.


	3. Gentlest of Giants

Mulan's quests and wanderings had taken her far and wide. She had seen some truly amazing, as well as truly terrible things. She had crossed paths with giants, dragons, dastardly pirates, vile sorcerers; she'd seen curses, enchantments and spells of every sort.

But the creature now standing before her was something different entirely.

 _Was he real? How could he be? He was SO big?_ Mulan's mind stammered inside her head.

"What's wrong?" Merida asked her curiously, looking over her shoulder to find Mulan hovering several feet behind her.

The big black Clydesdale, Angus, snorted quizzically, shaking his great head. Merida gambled up to her horse, throwing her arms happily around his neck.

A moment later, realizing that Mulan had not moved so much as an inch, Merida turned to look at her again. "What's wrong?" Merida repeated kindly. She watched the woman's face as it fought to remain in a composed and neutral mask. That fight betrayed her true feeling, one which Merida had not seen the usually brave warrior fall to before: fear.

"I've seen you swing up and down from a horse like you were born in the saddle. I know ye aren't scared of them." Merida told her, in what she hoped was an affirming manner. She patted the large Clydesdale again and retraced her path back to Mulan, taking her hand and gently leading her forward the last few steps towards her beloved steed. She could feel a quiver of resistance shoot through Mulan, but she followed her nonetheless.

"Angus, Mulan." Merida chirped. "Mulan, Angus!" She finished, guiding Mulan's hand to rest on Angus' soft nose. The horse stood perfectly still, kind brown eyes looking quietly down on the usually unflappable warrior.

"He's...he's very big..." Mulan finally mustered, her fingers starting to tentatively pet Angus, though not leaving Merida's comforting grip.

Merida giggled. "Well he's a mite bigger than those wee ponies I've seen in the books about your homeland, I'll grant ye that."

Mulan blushed, looking down. Staring at her boots, she was hit again by the sheer size of Angus' iron shod hooves. She ran a hand down his neck as she walked to his side, struck by the fact that the top of her head did not even come near to the line of his broad back.

Absorbed with the horse, she missed the devilish grin that lighted Merida's face as she slid up right behind her.

"Bend your left knee a bit," she told Mulan.

"Hmm?" Mulan queried as she complied - only to find herself suddenly being pushed up into the air. She grabbed out to steady herself on the nearest thing she could reach - _Angus_ , and somehow found herself sitting on top of the colossal beast, one hand frantically grabbing a hold of the reins.

Merida was laughing from the ground. "Go on then," she encouraged, waving a hand to the open field before them.

Angus turned his head towards his frozen rider, giving Mulan an encouraging look as he swished his tail gently.

"I don't know about this…"

Merida didn't give Mulan another instant to hesitate. She grabbed Mulan's free hand and used it to swing herself up behind the other woman.

"Come on, Angus!" Merida beamed as she wrapped her arms around a startled Mulan, before giving the giant horse a gentle squeeze. Angus leapt to life in a smooth step, going from a halt to an easy, rocking horse canter in a few strides.

"Not so bad, is it?" Merida asked merrily, right in Mulan's ear.

"No," Mulan answered, surprised to find the tiniest smile on her face. "Not so bad at all."

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 **A/N:** I know it is anachronistic to have a Clydesdale in Medieval Scotland, but if Scotland can be next-door to Camelot where several centuries worth of armour gets trotted around, and all quest-worthy items are always a day or less journey away, I think I can be forgiven…


End file.
